


Hopelessness

by Space_Hawk



Series: Inktober 2020 [13]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang is angry, Anger, Angst, Friendship/Love, Gen, Introspection, Katara is a good friend, Katara is the Mom Friend of the group, and she's doing amazing, but it's not his fault, the only one holding them all together in the desert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:53:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26996212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space_Hawk/pseuds/Space_Hawk
Summary: Appa was his best friend. The only thing left from his life before. And now he was gone. Stolen from him, just like everything else.Aang just felt so hopeless.Inktober Day 13: Dune
Relationships: Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang & The Gaang (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar)
Series: Inktober 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950592
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	Hopelessness

Aang flew through the sky on his glider for hours, oblivious to the sun blazing against his back. His eyes scanned the monochromatic desert below, desperate for any sign of Appa. Tracks. Fur. Anything.

But there was nothing.

The sun was quickly sinking beneath the horizon and he knew he would be forced to return to the rest of his friends soon. He could just barely make out their small forms in the distance, but something held him back. They would be fine without him. Katara would make sure that they were safe. 

But what about Appa? 

He had no one to keep him safe. And who knows where those sandbenders had taken him.

Appa had saved his life on countless occasions, but he couldn’t even protect him when it mattered most. 

Aang’s heart felt as heavy as the sinking sun.

How could Toph have let this happen? How could he have let this happen?

A part of him knew that it was wrong to blame Toph. That it wasn’t her fault, but he just felt so angry. 

Appa was his best friend. The one who had always been there for him, no matter what. It didn’t matter to him if he was the Avatar or if he was destined to save the world. Katara and Sokka and Toph were incredible, don’t get him wrong, but they still expected him to defeat the Fire Lord and restore balance to the world. Appa didn’t expect anything from him other than friendship and maybe a few treats. He was the only one who saw the true him, the one without the weight of his duties as the Avatar. His only remnant from his life before. Before the iceberg. Before being the Avatar. Even before his tattoos. Appa had been the only thing left.

And now he was gone. Stolen from him, just like everything else.

He just felt so hopeless.

The sun had almost entirely disappeared by the time he landed by his friends, bodies casting long shadows against the surrounding sand dunes. 

“I’m so sorry, Aang.” He heard Katara’s gentle voice and a hand on his shoulder, but he silently brushed it off. There was nothing to say to that. Appa was gone and they were hopelessly lost in endless desert. 

The next day passed in a blur of misery and emptiness. Katara did her best, dragging them along in the vain attempt that they’d find something, anything, that would save them. 

An angry little voice in his head wondered how she could be so optimistic. How she could be trying so hard to get them out of the desert when Appa was still missing.

There were times when he struggled to keep a lid on this anger. He knew it wasn’t fair. That Katara didn’t deserve it, especially when she was the only thing keeping them alive, but such logical thoughts weren’t enough to sate the voice.

He just felt so angry. So lost, without the one constant that had been in his life for as long as he could remember. 

When the day after that came, along with the revelation that the sandbenders had stolen Appa. Had sold him to people who would do who-knows-what with him. Had muzzled him. 

The dam on Aang’s anger finally broke. 

All of the anger and pain and hopelessness he had felt since Appa had been taken came flooding out of him. The Avatar spirit rushing in his ears.

But in the end, it was Katara that saved him. Who’s gentle touch managed to bring him back from the edge.

As the anger subsided, only grief remained and he collapsed into her arms.

“We’re going to get him back,” she assured, but Aang could only nod weakly.

He didn’t know what would happen if they didn’t.

**Author's Note:**

> I always really liked the episode where they were all trying to get out of the desert because it's really the first time we see this darker, more angry side of Aang. I just want him to be happy, but that is definitely not this fic :/
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed and as always, kudos and comments are appreciated


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